The ‘Grok is a big proponent of open and transparent government – and we try to fight it whenever we see elected and appointed politicians trying to create more "dark corners" rather than bringing more flashlights to the fore.
Here in NH, several bills have been filed at the House level that will weaken NH’s RTK (Freedom of Information Act in other states) law by "shielding" some agencies and departments from having to have to be forthcoming in what they are doing.
- HB 53
- 2009-H-0520-L
- HB379
- HB328
- DB266
- HB206
- HB89
Only one, HB 135 (co-sponsored by Reps. Rowe, Splaine, Ober and Baldasaro) attempts to strengthen the Public’s right to know by putting some teeth into wrong doing.
Why do I bring this up? Stories like this (H/T: Our friend Lennie at Education Matters and again via WTH at RedState):
Big Hollow School Board: Hiring one of their own?
The new director-level position was never discussed or introduced at a school Board meeting prior to December 15. Citing recent financial hardships, the Board has repeatedly voted down community supported staffing such as a school nurse and other areas of genuine need. Since the school already employs a well-regarded and reputable IT person, the immediate need for a director level role is a previously unidentified need.
- The position was recommended by one of the School Board members via a confidential report (to the Board) to bolster the case for the new position. The recommending School Board member has a background in Technology and is currently unemployed. The recommending School Board member then recused himself from personnel discussions related to the position due to his own desire to apply. In short, he wishes to apply for the job that he just created.
- The job position was posted the following day on the school website (December 16th) without a job description, experience/educational requirements, or any list of tasks and responsibilities. Nonetheless, the Board appears prepared to take action and approve a candidate for hiring at the January 19th meeting. Clearly, the job ideation, job posting, interviewing and possible fulfillment of a director level position in less than 30 days (including holiday break) is a breathtaking achievement for the Big Hollow School Board. While the public had no idea that a Director of Technology was so screamingly urgent, the board seems prepared to hire one of their own. In fact, a board member is set to resign at Monday night meeting.
Where are the whistleblowers on this one? Where is the outrage of the citizenry about government stroking its own? People wonder why Doug and I (and others here at the ‘Grok) are so hard on government all the time; this says it all. Cronyism, back room deals, secrecy, and not a small amount of money to change hands for quite some time.
Once again, government grows regardless on the hardship that it imposes on the rest of us. For those of you who protest that government is supposed to care for people, you are wrong. Government, as seen by the Founding Fathers, was created to safeguard liberties and freedom and NOT to act like a piggy bank for that that have the keys to the Treasury!
After all (H/T: Instapundit), it seems that while Government whines about high priced CEOs and exectives taking care of themselves instead of their workers, isn’t Government doing the same by taking care of itself in this "economic crisis" instead of lowering its own burden on the taxpayers:
While the private sector was shedding millions of jobs in 2008 and government budgets were collapsing under the weight of waste, fraud and carved-in-stone personnel costs, the public sector had another banner year. Governments at all levels hired 164,100 new employees and were largely responsible for the addition of a further 96,600 jobs in education and 371,600 in health care. Now President-elect Obama wants to add 600,000 to the bloated federal payroll. Untold thousands more local, county and state employees will be needed to fill all the new and bigger public facilities built with stimulus cash. As it is, nearly 15 percent of the civilian work force draws government paychecks.
How about some honesty and leading by example? Again, I applaud this example.
